Prisoner of the Mind
by MilleniumHeart323
Summary: During battle city. Ryou can't take much more of his Yami's abuse and thinks there may finally be hope when Bakura is sent to the shadow realm after loosing the duel with Yugi, but unfortunately for Ryou the ring seems to always have a way of reappearing.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters. Unfortunately. Yup, Enjoy

Summary: Takes place during the battle city finals. Ryou can't take much more of his Yami's mental and physical abuse and thinks there may finally be hope when Bakura is sent to the shadow realm after loosing in the duel with Yugi, but unfortunately for Ryou the ring seems to always have a way of reappearing... ********************************************************************************************************************

Ryou let his head roll to the side weakly, hearing it thump quietly and finally laying deathly still against the floor of his soul room. His whole body was covered in gruesome bruises and cuts, coating his once marble pale skin with blotchy purple and dark red marks. Several deep gashes on his arms continued to slowly bleed creating more blood to the already forming red puddle around him with each sluggish beat of his heart. Letting out a shaky cough Ryou wasn't surprised as he choked up a mouthful of blood and felt it roll down the side of his chin. Every time he dared take another shallow breath his stomach would sear in pain making it nearly impossible for him to get a descent amount of oxygen into his deprived lungs. He suspected his lack of the ability to breath was the cause of his broken ribs, at least they felt broken, and the amount of severe bruising on his stomach was evidence enough to tell him they were damaged in some way.

He couldn't remember how long he had been in this state, or how many more times he was beaten into it, again, and again. The amount of abuse he suffered from Bakura had been endless over the years and it was impossible for Ryou to recall how many times he had actually been kicked in the stomach or slammed against the floor, as there were just too many to count. It had always been this way for him, at least it was as soon as his father had given him the Millennium Ring as a boy. A harmless golden Egyptian artifact for a gift, how seemingly perfect it had been. Ryou could still remember that sense of euphoria he had experienced as a child when his father had presented him with such a priceless relic, seeing the gold outline shimmer entrancingly against the light as he had torn the packaging away from his present to reveal the Millennium Ring his father had chosen just for him while traveling in Egypt on one of his excavations . How soon that delight would be ripped away from him and replaced with chilling horror at the realization of the demon that inhabited his once precious ring.

Since then he was merely a prisoner, trapped in his own body, or in his mind rather. Bakura would always unexpectedly steal charge of the body they shared, no permission needed. Giving Ryou no choice in the matter when Bakura would force him into his soul room, locking the door behind, while he took over their body, doing whatever he pleased. If he tried to resist, Bakura would always over power Ryou quickly in a mental tug-O-war, and when he did decide to resist, his usual punishments were just worse and the immense pain he was forced to endure would make him question why on earth he would attempt such a feat as denying Bakura when it it only caused him more agony and trouble than it did help.

Such events had led him to his current situation. As foolish as he was, he had attempted to push Bakura away as his Yami had done to him so many times before, and take control of his body while they had been talking to Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Joey right before they would board the blimp . This was the first time since the start of the tournament that the door to his soul room had not been locked while Bakura carried their body around his friends. Unbeknown to his Yami, he was finally able to creep out of his imprisoned mind and take a sort of 'shot-gun' position in the body, being able to see, hear, and feel the echo of what was happening around his physical body, just not being the one in control of the motions. He could make out the shapes of his friends surrounding him. Where was he? taking note of the area behind his friends, it looked like they were standing at the base of a still under construction stadium. But he knew he didn't have much time to look around, it wouldn't be long before Bakura would become aware of his escape and he would be once more be sealed into his soul room. Yugi's words broke through his cotton stuffed ears, interrupting his thoughts

"Yeah, Grandpa told me you were in pretty bad condition. They let you out?" Yugi said spiritedly, taking a slight step towards Bakura.

'Bad condition? Let me out of where? What's Yugi talking about? How long had Bakura taken control of his body this time?' The questions raced through Ryou's mind and without a second thought was able to force an un expecting Bakura into the back seat of command.

Opening his eyes he surveyed the clear faces of his friends peering at him questioningly. 'Oh right they were waiting for an answer'

"I-I'm fine." He said with a smile. How long had it been since he had been able to talk freely with another human being without the threat of Bakura breathing down his neck? The other times his conversations would be limited and any wrong word would anger Bakura, resulting in him taking back control of his body and locking Ryou in his soul room for days and sometimes weeks on end. Speaking of Bakura whe-

'AAAAAAHHH!!!'. The angry cry of Bakura having realized what had taken place broke through Ryou's head from the back of his mind, making Ryou struggle not to wince. He could immediately feel the strong presence of Bakura's mind crushing against his as they both struggled for control. The words coming out of Tristans mouth became clouded the only thing he could comprehend was the moving mouth as he focused all his effort on fighting off Bakura.

'You..little...SHIT!' Bakura screamed furiously when Ryou held on with all his effort to consciousness, determined to put up a fight. His resistance didn't last for much longer though. Seconds later a sensation much like being punched in the face from Bakura's vicious mental attack was enough for Ryou to relinquish control back to his Yami, the sight of his friends drifted into darkness and Ryou's mind succumbed to the comforting black of unconsciousness he was so accustomed to.

Opening his eyes he found himself on his back looking up at the blank ceiling of his soul room. He'd failed once again at fighting off Bakura, and dreaded the cruel reality that he would soon pay for his actions of rebellion. Getting up from his position, he was standing in the middle of his soul room. It was a pretty simple room and held an aura of innocence. He had plain white carpeting, a bed in the far corner with creme colored sheets, a small wooden desk and chair in another corner with papers spread on the surface, and a few toys and duel monsters cards scattered on the floor. The walls were a powder blue, large cracks covering half the surface. When he had first met Bakura the. Walking to the door and placing his hand on the doorknob he testingly tried to turn it a few times, completely unsurprised to find it locked, how it was practically all the time. Non the less, it hadn't hurt to try. Retreating from the lost cause that was his door he decided on sitting himself on his bed in the corner. Letting his legs dangle off the side he let his elbows rest on his knees and let his head drop into his hands. There wasn't much for him to do in his soul room, anything worth doing he'd probably already done multiple time before, seeing as he basically spent all his time trapped in this room. The closest thing he got to human interaction were the little 'sessions' his Yami dedicated to him, the end result being Ryou left in a half conscious broken pile in his soul room. Why was life so cruel to him? Everyday was a nightmare, having to endure the pain was an effort at best. A single tear rolled down his cheek. If he were to die, perhaps his suffering could be put to an end.

The statement stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks, sitting up straighter he wiped away the stray tear, wondering where on earth that idea had come from. He had never been suicidal, though quite frankly it was surprising it had taken him this long for his mind to reach such a possibility considering how long he had endured Bakura's abuse. Would it hurt to die? It wouldn't take too long for him to take control of his body, preferably when Bakura was asleep inside the ring, and grab a knife. How quick it could be too, just two neat cuts across his wrists. He smirked at the possibilities, though that smirk was quickly replaced with a frown when he begun to think how messed up such thoughts were and how messed up he had to be to imagine it. But he couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face, despite his conflicting emotions, knowing he could finally be free from Bakura.

Distant footsteps coming from the hallway outside his door froze his thought process, clouding his mind in fear knowing those footsteps could only belong to one other person that inhabited his body. Bringing his knees onto the bed and drawing them into his chest he took in a shaky breathe, dreading each footstep as they began to get closer and closer.

"Please, please don't stop at my room", he whispered the silent prayer to himself in a panic. But it looked like his prayers would go unanswered tonight as the steps finally came to a stop and the door to his soul room was slammed open. The door way illuminated the front of Bakura, making him look almost angelic. 'yeah, right!' he mentally scoffed nervously, Bakura was more like the grim reaper, coming to murder him.

"You little brat!" sneered Bakura, as he quickly strode over to Ryou's place on the bed, ruthlessly grabbing a handful of his hair to drag him up so he may face to face. Ryou simply reacted lifelessly, only wincing as his hair was yanked by the roots. Struggling would do him no good now, as his Yami appeared to be in no such mood to put up with his particular defense . "How dare you try such a thing. You're going to regret that little stunt you pulled. I'd thought by now you would have realized you are never to interfere with my plans." When Ryou gave no reply Bakura merely smirked, "No? Ah well I guess we'll just have to teach you another lesson tonight". The smirk was now a dangerous smile and Ryou's eyes could only widen in terror knowing nothing good ever came from such a smile. Bakura narrowed his eyes and tugged hard at the handful of hair in his fist, throwing Ryou to the ground where he lay sprawled, looking up pleadingly at Bakura. Yami only laughed, kneeling down to tower over his host. Pulling out a small knife from behind his back, one that Ryou was all too familiar with, he proceeded to run it across the base of Ryou's neck, creating a long thin cut that immediately began to bleed slowly. Bringing the knife back to his lips and calmly licking the blood off the knife he then knelt down lower so his head was right next to Ryou's.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun tonight." he whispered into his hosts ears, giving a menacing chuckle at the sight of Ryou visibly pale.

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Ryou let his head roll to the side weakly, hearing it thump quietly and finally laying deathly still against the floor of his soul room. His whole body was covered in gruesome bruises and cuts, coating his once marble pale skin with blotchy purple and dark red marks. Several deep gashes on his arms continued to slowly bleed creating more blood to the already forming red puddle around him with each sluggish beat of his heart. Letting out a shaky cough Ryou wasn't surprised as he choked up a mouthful of blood and felt it roll down the side of his chin. Every time he dared take another shallow breath his stomach would sear in pain making it nearly impossible for him to get a descent amount of oxygen into his deprived lungs. He suspected his lack of the ability to breath was the cause of his broken ribs, at least they felt broken, and the amount of severe bruising on his stomach was evidence enough to tell him they were damaged in some way. Bakura had certainly made an effort tonight, of course he would never go far enough as to killing Ryou. Without Ryou he wouldn't have a body to collect the Millennium items, although this didn't hold back Bakura much. Tears ran down his face, dampening his already dirty hair. His energy was escaping him and felt helpless as his eyes started to drift close, the haze of pain slowly fading as his mind give in to the peaceful escape of sleep.

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Yeah, thats the first chapter. Please REVview =D they give me the energy to type faster!

sooo REVIEW !!!! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! It's been so long since i've updated, I'm so sorry i kinda just forgot about this story. Lucky for those who are following this story though I have a friend who is a super awesome mega writer that pushed me to update this story and finish it. I already know what I want to happen in the next chapter, which should come out a lot faster than this one did ^_^ haha well as long as a get a few reviews. Hope you guys like it, worked really hard on it. You'll notice that I refer to Ryou as..well 'Ryou' while his friends still call him Bakura, we'll see if we can get that changed later on. Starts to veer from actual story line a bit from here on out.

Usual disclaimer applies. If I owned Yugioh there would be SO much more angst :P

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Ryou's eyes slowly opened as his mind became more aware of his surrounding, not surprised at all to find himself still on his soul room floor. Memories of before he passed out rushed back to him as he recalled the beating he had received from Bakura. His skin was still covered in bruises and from the way the majority of cuts were still slowly bleeding and the amount of blood that had pooled on the carpet beneath where he lay, he surmised he had been out for a mere couple of hours.

'A couple of hours', he dryly smirked, usually he would stay unconscious for at least a day. Perhaps he wasn't as injured as he had initially thought? Testing the theory, he brought up one of his arms so he could attempt to sit up. His body raged in protest, his stomach giving off a sharp stabbing pain, making his head spin dangerously. But despite the pain he was able to maintain his half seated position. That was an improvement in itself. On weak shaky knees he managed to slowly stand up off the floor and plop himself onto the bed in the corner of the room, slightly out of breath from just the few short steps it had taken him to travel to this spot. Taking a moment to assess his injuries, he started to look himself over. The bruises and cuts were evident throughout his body, although they were just superficial and would heal over time, nothing too much to worry there. Locating the majority of the pain was coming from his stomach, he slowly rolled up the front of his shirt to reveal the sickly scarlet-purple colored skin below, covering the majority of his front.

'well that can't be too good' he though to himself, grimacing. Thin pale fingers carefully began to travel over the skin, lightly pressing where the bruising was most severe. It was all Ryou could do to not let out a scream, managing a half strangled whimper instead from the pain he received from his fingers ministrations. Fractured ribs, was his best guess. Just as long as he didn't take any deep breathes, move around, or laugh he'd be just fine. Actually he could take off that last one from the list, there hadn't been many opportunities to laugh in his life these last couple of years, there was nothing to laugh about. That is unless you counted a deranged spirit taking over your body, long hours of solitude in a soul room, or endless abuse as comical. Then yes, his particular situation was absolutely hilarious. Ryou let out a low groan and let his shirt drop from his fingers, once again covering his bruised stomach. He just hoped the injury would somewhat heal before Bakura came back to 'spend time with him' again. Letting his body slump further into the bed and lowering his head to the pristine white pillow that he had grown accustomed to after many nights spent in his soul room, he tried to will himself to sleep, if only for a second to experience the painless bliss of unconsciousness. But just as his eyes had begun to droop a sudden shake of his room broke him out of his half-asleep state.

'That's weird' he though, things like that only happened when the spirit was participating in a shadow game, the thought passing offhandedly through his head until the weight of his words hit him 'Wait a second! The spirit was involved in a shadow game!' Quickly jumping from his position on the bed to his feet, reminding himself once again of his damaged ribs, he hurried to his soul room door desperately trying to pry it open despite the obvious locked state it was in.

"No, no, no," he half whispered to himself still pulling on the handle. He would not sit idly by in his soul room like a 'good little host', as the spirit referred to it as, and watch as Bakura took another innocent life. He would not continue to be used like this! He wasn't useless, he wasn't. He had friends that were in danger right now, and if he had any chance to do something about it he would do it. The door still did not budge against Ryou's futile attempts. Tears sprung to his eyes, threatening to spill, and he dropped to his knees in front of the door, one hand still hanging loosely on the stubborn handle.

"Come on...you damn door." a few tears leaked down his pale cheeks, leaving streaks against his skin. He lay his forehead against the door, softly banging it against the unforgiving wood, evidently doing more harm to him rather than the door.

'This wasn't fair! He wanted to help for once, not live out the rest of his life locked in his mind. That damn spirit thought he could control him as easy as someone could manipulate a little kid. No. Not this time.'

Hate rose inside of Ryou, angry at the spirit for all that he had done to him, but more so for his helplessness. He would show them, show them all that he could fight back. Wait a second, had his soul room suddenly become dark? Taking a look around, he found to his surprise that it was not his room that had been shrouded in darkness, it was the shadows surrounding HIS body. The Millennium ring that both Ryou and Bakura wore inside his mind was glowing upon his chest, pulsing along side his heartbeat making the shadows around him flicker wildly. It gave off a warm sense of power and heat.

Getting over his initial astonishment Ryou stared blankly at the shadows being given off by the Ring. Was he supposed to use this somehow? He had no idea what to do! It's not like Bakura had trained Ryou in the art of shadows. No, that would have been a means of fighting back for Ryou. Well, it was said that experience was the best teacher. He just hoped he could manage that enough without killing himself. Worth a shot though, its not like he had anything else to lose. Closing his eyes he focused his attention on the still pulsing ring on his chest. He could feel it, somewhat, within his being- the shadows, the darkness, it swirled through him. Like a replacement for his blood it slowly traveled along his veins. The glowing ring on his chest began to grow hot, almost unbearable, his thin layer of clothes doing nothing to protect his skin from its onslaught. The power was there, undoubtedly, and he would become the master of it, control the shadows as he had seen several holders of Millennium items do. Eyes still closed and trying to ignore the blazing heat of the Ring, he reached his hand back up to the door handle. The shadows that covered his hand spread to engulf the entire door.

'but what now?' He thought. He had it, he knew. The shadows danced fiercely waiting for his command. Sweat was beginning to form over his skin from the exertion. He had better do something quick before he had no strength left.

"...Destroy," He spoke in the most demanding tone he could muster, a bit unsure that anything would happen.

He was obeyed. The door splintered and finally shattered beneath the onrush of shadow power. Ryou instantly lost his concentration and pulled his hand back to protect his eyes from the chips of wood that had been blown throughout his room. What once was his 'door' was now an empty opening leading into the dark hallway that connected Bakura's mind from his own. The shadows retreated back into the now cold and unmoving Ring leaving Ryou tired and breathless. None the less, Ryou stood from his kneed position on the floor, bits of wood falling off his clothes as he stood. The Millennium Ring jostled against his skin making him hiss in pain, looking down he found that the pendent had burnt right through his thin T-shirt and had set to burn the next thing underneath. His skin. A slightly blurry outline of the ring on his skin occupied the space where it normally would lay over his clothes. The angry red-blistered design of skin stood out in pale contrast to his normally marble white complexion. He had been branded by the damn thing! As if he didn't have enough scars already.

Sighing in hollow defeat he turned his ring around so it would lie on his back instead of his damaged front and tried to push the weariness and pain he felt out of his mind. How was it he could feel so much pain inside his mind anyway? Ahhh, too much thinking- he could contemplate that another time. A time when he had not just managed a way to escape. Smirking to himself he cautiously started to leave the confines of the debris filled soul room and set out into the dark hallway of their connected minds. Blinking, he found himself once again watching events of Bakura's doings unfold. His earlier suspicions were proven correct as he saw that they were in a duel with.... he paused to look across the platform for the opponent, with Yugi?! No, more like the Pharaoh of the Millennium puzzle. Yugi's Yami that shared his body, yet wasn't evil and pent on destroying the world as his Yami was. STILL, this was not good. Ryou felt he would have a panic attack, that is before he became aware of the playing field. Bakura had no monsters on his side of the field and was faced by Yugi's god card, Slifer. Not only that, but it was Yugi's turn. The spirit seemed to be in too deep of thought to feel the sudden rush of happiness that flooded Ryou through their link. Another one of his friends would not be sent to the shadow realm, this time rather, it would be the parasitic spirit of the Ring. But this did raise one question, why wasn't Yugi attacking? Everyone's head was turned to the side lines focused on a man wearing a long robe. Half of his face was covered in hieroglyphic tattoos and he was holding a...long gold pole? The eye of Horus could be made out at the top of the ball. So a millennium item? It flashed gold and everyone's heads swiveled to look back at him. What were they looking at?

Without warning Ryou suddenly found himself shoved into his body. Previous wounds, which had been slightly numbed, now flared alive unmercifully along with a new source of agony erupting from his left arm. His vision swam and he fell to his knees in shock and his eyes shut against the physical onslaught he gripped the burning arm

"My arm...it hurts," he moaned, surprised to hear how weak his voice came out. Many cries of 'Bakura!' were yelled around him making him slowly pry his eyes still stood on the opposite side of the field looking quite surprised, as did everyone else, to be staring at Ryou instead of the spirit in his place. But no one made any step forward to help him.

"Yugi, please help me. Where are we? What am I doing in this duel? What happened to my arm?" Ryou had never been quite so confused. Lifting up his sleeve to stare in horror at the blood stained bandage covering the upper part of his arm he couldn't help but let out a gasp. What had the spirit done to him? His ears were ringing and he struggled to keep his vision straight, wincing as the pain in his arm flared. The man in the cloak was talking again but Ryou could barely make out the words, he was feeling sicker by the second and wasn't sure whether he would throw up or pass out first.

"I don't feel very well, Yugi," he tried again. Why wouldn't they stop this duel? Was Yugi really going to finish him off? No, Yugi would never do that. He was Ryou's friend. He let out a groan as the world began to spin making him squeeze his eyes shut again.

"Please...someone help me..please," Ryou shivered from the cold night air. No one moved, he assumed Yugi was still unsure about attacking. Abruptly he was pushed from control making him land roughly in the middle of his Soul Room.

Curling in on himself on the floor he just lay there in pain, not quite feeling like moving. That had been.. interesting in the very least. Bakura must have thought the Pharaoh was going to attack to take control. In the end, the spirit just needed him to stay alive in order to survive as well. But then, this meant the Spirit would lose the duel. Didn't it? His suspicions seemed to confirm themselves as his soul room began to shake violently. There was no doubt that Yugi was attacking with Slifer. The rumbling began to die down seconds later. Although Ryou wasn't given much time to realize what had just happened and what this ultimately meant. Blinking, he found himself back in control of his body lying stomach up on the dueling platform. All this body switching was making him dizzier than he already was. Yugi was suddenly at his side helping Ryou sit up, a bit too quick for his liking though as his ribs twinged in discomfort making him wince. The rest of the gang instantly appeared as well in front of him muttering words of concern.

"Hey, so where am I?" He all but whispered.

"You're with your friends now, Bakura," Yugi- er the Pharaoh replied. What an incredibly cheesy thing to say anyways, he wanted answers! If only he weren't so tired.

"Help him onto my back so we can get him to his room." Tristan was now kneeled in front of him. Yet Ryou felt as though something was wrong, off place. Realizing the familiar weight on his chest was missing he quickly glanced down.

"No..no," Ryou muttered, struggling against the arms lifting him up.

"Relax Bakura, you gotta go rest." Joey said, still holding onto Ryou's uninjured arm so he couldn't slip off of Tristans back.

"No...the Ring's..gone.." Ryou said with effort, not missing the surprised gasps of people who were unable to hold it in.

"It must have been blasted off from that last attack from Slifer. Tristan, take Ryou back to his room. Tea and I will stay here to look for the Ring." The pharaoh said, taking lead of the situation. Worried glances were shared but they listened none the less. Tristan stood up from his crouch nodding to the Pharaoh and set off with the rest of the group towards the exit. Ryou turned his head to the side straining to look back at the pair still standing on the platform without much success, only catching a glimpse of Tea searching at the end of the field. Hopefully the Ring had been blasted off the blimp and would be lost forever, although with his luck he highly doubted it. His vision started to turn fuzzy and dark around the edges, but this time he found he couldn't shake. Darkness was taking over his senses and seconds later Ryou found himself victim, yet again, to unconsciousness.

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Yup, there you have it. Chapter two! A little bit on the fence about finishing this up. Help me decide with some reviews guys. pleeease. the more reviews, the faster the next chapter will be up.

Hope you liked :)

please review


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